Jet Lag - Part 2
by Interspark
Summary: My name is Jayla Mills, the human-Gem hybrid. Two years ago, I found out there are dozens of us on the earth, but also dire threats we had to face. I made new friends, and together, we defeated the terrorist group, the Gem Hunters. Time has passed, and we recovered from our losses, but there are still new friends out there to meet, and new enemies to face.
1. A New Adventure Begins

Hey guys, I'm back! If you're reading this story, it's probably because you loved the last one so much, you had to know what happened to me next, but if not, let me give you the cliff notes real quick-

My name is Jayla Mills, but my friends call me JJ. I'm 27 years old, I've got bushy black hair with purple streaks, and colourful tattoo sleeves, and I'm the daughter of a hot-shot lawyer called Abigail, and an alien Gem called Jet. I'm one of somewhere between seven and a hundred Gem-Human hybrids living on earth. For the longest time, I thought I was the only one, then I met a badass fusion called Garnet, who introduced me to a kid called Steven.

Not long after, it turned out my best friend Mandy's new girlfriend, Emily, was concealing a Peridot Gem under her eyepatch. With the help of Emily's Peridot aunts Perry and Dorothy, we established a tracking algorithm, that could find Gem Human hybrids anywhere on earth. It claimed there were slightly over a hundred of us, but it wasn't exactly perfect. It picked up an island populated by Watermelon Stevens, and a particularly grumpy Bald Eagle-Howlite hybrid in Alaska, but regardless, we were well on our way.

In a carnival, we met a fortune-teller called Olivia, who had a yellow Sapphire on her forehead. She had the power to see anything, anywhere on earth, that she chose, casting her vision through space, rather than time, like a blue Sapphire. We also met a powerhouse called Sabina, who had a Rose Quartz gem on her shoulder, with the power to summon pink knuckle dusters, and ungodly levels of strength.

Sabina, along with a couple of kids called Tyler and Jamie, were being held captive by a terrorist organisation called the Gem Hunters. Sabina got out unharmed, but Tyler's Gem was damaged, and Jamie's was straight up destroyed. Luckily, a trip to Steven's mum's healing fountain fixed Tyler right up, and Dorothy was able to fashion a Gem prosthetic for Jamie, which generated his missing DNA strands.

Sadly, we lost Perry in our fight against the Gem Hunters, but Dorothy and Emily adopted Jamie, so I guess it wasn't all bad news.

After that, we pretty much took a break for a while. Mandy kept up her archaeology studies at Empire City University. The Bird Person from Alaska became an edgelord, urban vigilante. I quit my job at the coffee shop and started working for Dorothy at her lab. Jamie started attending school in Empire City, and Sabina, Tyler and Olivia got back to their respective lives.

Shortly after that, we found out Steven's mum had been a Gem matriarch called Pink Diamond, all along, which, although surprising, didn't really affect us all that much, until the other three Diamonds came to earth, and healed the corrupted Gem army, leaving earth with a sizeable Gem population, living near beach city.

Of course, that's the second biggest news, since the last story. The top position is proudly held by Emily and Mandy's wedding! It was beautiful. Emily proposed, and adorably, she got a ring with an exquisitely cut, terrestrial Peridot on it. I was both of their Best Man, and had the awesome tux to prove it. Emily wore a tuxedo too, and Mandy wore a gorgeous dress. Other than that, it was super casual. They had the ceremony on the roof of Emily, Dorothy and Jamie's apartment building, and all the hybrids attended, even Bird Person, although he lurked on an adjacent building, where he thought none of us could see him.

Anyway, that takes us to two years after we shut down the Gem Hunters. I was in the lab adjoining Emily's apartment, with Dorothy, Emily and Jamie. Like I said, Dorothy was a Peridot, not that you'd know. She'd taken on a human-like form, after Emily was born, so she could blend in. She looked like a tall, skinny, pale woman, with a blue sweater and a lab coat. Her most telling, alien trait was her lime green hair, combed into an 80's bob.

At some point before I met her, Emily had committed to having matching, green hair, cut into a minimalist mohawk, combed over the half of her face, featuring her Gem, which, along with her edgy, black and white tattoo sleeves, completed a punk look, way cooler than I could pull off.

She was slouched over one of the lab's surfaces, which Jamie was sitting on, allowing him to closely inspect her tattoos. He was regularly asking her questions about the inspiration behind them, the answer for all of which seemed to be, "I thought it'd look cool."

"I can't wait until I'm old enough to have tattoos." Jamie said, excitedly. "I'm gonna go into space and find the coolest aliens to get tattoos of!"

"Well… age is just a number." Emily said. "In your case, it's an incredibly long sequence of codes we programme into that." She joked, tapping on the prosthetic over his heart, where his Gem used to be, through his t-shirt.

Jamie's prosthetic Gem programmed his body to generate cells relative to his age. Hypothetically, it could be programmed to make him whatever age he chose.

"Emily, if you're trying to persuade Jamie to let you fiddle with the device that's keeping him alive, I'm gonna have to tell your wife on you." I joked.

Even though they'd been married for two months now, Emily still grinned compulsively, whenever I called Mandy her wife.

"I was kidding!" She insisted. "You have to wait until you're actually eighteen." She told Jamie, ruffling his hair.

"And then we can get reported to child-protective services, for having a tattooed ten-year-old." Dorothy chimed in, before looking around nervously, to see if anyone laughed. She still wasn't fully comfortable with joking banter.

"You are gonna figure out how to make me older eventually though, right?" Jamie asked, not sounding all that bothered. Jamie often treated growing older like getting a shiny new video game console. I mean sure, he'd like it, but he's not a brat about getting it.

"I wouldn't rush them if I were you, dude." I said. "If they get it wrong, you might end up with two heads!"

"I think I'm a good enough programmer to avoid that, Jayla…" Dorothy said, with an edge to her voice.

I quickly caught on. "It's called a joke, Dorothy! Look it up!"

"Oh, I must have not recognised it, because it wasn't the least bit funny!"

"You don't think anything's funny!"

"How would you know, I spend most of my time with you!"

I should probably explain. Dorothy had a habit of arguing with Perry, over inconsequential nonsense, in almost all of their exchanges. When I started working for Dorothy, I noticed she was snippier with me than before, which I initially took issue with, until Emily pointed out she was trying to fill the gap Perry had left. I'd always suspected they argued for the fun of it, and honestly, I was having fun, helping Dorothy cope.

The day wore on, and I was busy helping Dorothy finish work on a Star Wars-esque laser stun device, when a quiet beeping sound came from Dorothy's laptop.

"What's that?" I asked.

Dorothy looked between me and the laptop in surprise. "Perimeter alert."

She ran over to the laptop and started typing.

"Whoa, perimeter? What does that mean? Are we under attack?"

Emily and Jamie ran in from the door, leading to their apartment. "What's going on?" Emily asked. "Are we under attack?"

"No, that's a much more shrill alarm." Dorothy corrected. "That sound means a Gem hybrid has entered the city!"

"What!?" I gasped.

On one wall of the lab, a wide monitor burst into life, showing a map of the world, with a familiar arrangement of dots on it, each one indicating a Gem hybrid.

"We should really start reaching out again…" Emily said, guiltily. "It sucked, thinking I was the only one…"

It had been hard to pick things up again, when the last time we'd gone looking for hybrids, we'd found a terrorist organisation, and one of us had straight up died.

The map zoomed in on Empire City. There were two dots on the building we were in, one which was obviously Bird Person, given that it was flying over the buildings, unobstructed, and a fourth, seemingly driving along a road.

"Sure it's not Sabina?" I asked. "She doesn't always have time to hang out, when she's in town. Could be she's driving through?"

"No, that alarm means there's someone new in town."

"Dorothy…" I began, slowly. "Does your machine permanently track our positions?"

"Yes, of course." Dorothy said, without looking up from her laptop.

I sighed. Privacy was one of the human concepts Dorothy still wasn't great at.

"Well, I guess now's as good a time as any to start reaching out again! I guess the… Gem Hybrid Team… we really gotta come up with a name… are back in business!"


	2. Hybrids on the Run

With Emily committed to picking up Mandy after her classes, I embarked on my quest to track down the hybrid, alone. In the parking lot, beneath the building, I found Veronica, my earth mum's motorbike, augmented with parts from my space mum's destroyed ship. Mum had permanently loaned her to me, to keep her from gathering dust in her garage.

With a burst of green flames from the exhaust, I headed out, zipping between the late afternoon traffic, directed by Dorothy, through my ear piece. A few minutes later, Dorothy told me the hybrid had stopped, right in the middle of the road. Fearing our new friend had suffered a car crash, I put my foot down.

My heart sank a little further, as I approached the hybrid's location, and was met with gridlock. I parked Veronica on the street and ran through the crowds. My anxiety was alleviated, and replaced with confusion, when I found a car, not crashed, but abandoned in the middle of the street, with the door open.

I don't really know much about cars, but I could tell it was a nice one. A sleek, shiny sports car, with leather seats and a smart, red paint job. The kind of car one bought specifically to show off how much money they had. I raced over to look inside, but there was no driver to be found.

"Dorothy, I found the hybrid's car, but they're not here." I said, through my earpiece.

"It's a rough location, Jayla." Dorothy replied. "The inside of the car is full of their pheromones, it's masking their actual location. Use your scanner and follow their trail."

"Right. Also, they just abandoned the car in the middle of the road. Can you 'run the plates' so they say? Find out who this person is?"

I snapped a picture of the car, including the license plate, as I spoke, and sent it to Dorothy's phone.

"Will do." Dorothy said.

From my jacket pocket, I produced a small device, with a grip, beneath a square monitor with a dial on the side, and a dish on top. Adjusting the dial, the screen produced a map of my immediate area, with a trail, leading away from the car. Built specifically for my use, the scanner didn't register my own geo-organic pheromones.

I raced down the street, looking at the device, relying on my short-range future vision to keep me from ploughing into anyone. The hybrid hadn't gone far. It seemed they'd made a beeline for a building, around the corner from where they'd abandoned their car. As I approached, my heart sank a second time that day, as I heard screaming. Turning a corner, I saw people fleeing from a bank.

I ground my teeth in frustration. I naively hoped the hybrid was caught up in a hostage situation (as messed up as that sounds), but their abandoned car told a different tale.

"Jayla." Dorothy caught my attention as I ran into the bank's lobby. "That car's registered to a gentleman in Keystone, who reported it stolen, an hour ago."

"Yeah, no kidding…" I fumed. "I think our new sibling's on a rampage…"

The only people left in the bank, were two guards, both unconscious. They had bruises on their faces, but they were alive. They had revolvers still holstered to their belts, telling me that whatever the hybrid did, they had done fast. Over the counters, metal barriers had fallen, to shield the staff, and the vault, presumably deployed when the hybrid started attacking the guards, but one had been torn away and cast aside, evidently, based on the indentations, with a bare hand.

I leapt through the gap, to find several staff members, in formal clothes, huddled in a corner, with fearful expressions.

"Who did this?" I demanded, in an authoritative voice, that I hoped made it sound like I knew what I was doing.

One of them, a woman in her thirties, shook her head in disbelief. "He moved like a cartoon character. It was freakish!"

Realising that I couldn't expect too much information from hapless bystanders, I raced through a door, in the direction of the bank's vault. I passed a few more unconscious security guards, in much the same condition as their peers. They had been knocked out quickly and cleanly, with scarcely any time to retaliate.

Eventually, I found the vault. The massive, circular seal was open, as I'd assume it always was during the day, but beyond, was a series of iron bars, designed to keep anyone without a key, away from the stacks of money on the other side, a function which they had spectacularly failed to perform. Standing within the vault, was a short boy of around sixteen years of age, with short, black hair, collecting wads of cash by the handful, removing the paper strips holding them together, and placing them through the bars, into a backpack, hanging off the door, on my side. The boy was wearing a tight, black leotard, like a gymnast. His face was painted white, with a black diamond over his left eye, like a harlequin.

"Hi!" I called, making him jump.

The boy turned to face me, and looked me up and down. "You're not supposed to be in here." He said, accusingly.

"Seriously?" I asked.

Before the boy could answer, I heard the distant sound of police sirens.

"You hear that? You need to get out of here! Hurry!"

The boy seemed to share my urgency. He took a step towards the bars, and I prepared myself to see him teleport through them, or shift his density like Martian Manhunter. What he actually did, caught me off guard. Leaping forwards, the boy's body flattened for a split second, as he slipped between two bars, before returning to his original form on the other side. Honestly, it was kinda gross.

The kid hoisted his backpack full of money onto his shoulders and ran from the vault, turning in an opposite direction to the way we'd come from. As I ran after him, I saw a rack of riot response gear. After tucking my long, identifying hair into the neck of my jacket, I put on one of the visored helmets. The last thing I needed, was my cop friend Tina, finding out about this.

Following that logic, I called out to Dorothy. "Dorothy, do you think you can do anything about the bank's security cams?"

"Sure, but why? You're not helping this delinquent, are you?"

"I'm not stopping him…" I argued.

I didn't want the kid to get shot, but I wasn't about to defend a bank's massive hoard of wealth, either. My only commitment was to the health of this reckless teenager. We raced out the back door to find, just as I feared, a small platoon of police officers, four or five at each end of the alleyway we found ourselves in.

"Freeze!" One bellowed, aiming a gun at us. "Put your hands on the ground!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young harlequin smirk, which I didn't like the look of. He slowly lifted his hands in the air, bent over as if to comply, before rolling seamlessly into a handstand, and propelling himself off the ground, with his arms, flying high into the air, onto a fire escape, which he rapidly began to climb.

One of the cops looked jumpy. A second in the future, I saw him shooting at the runaway and hitting. My gem weapons would identify me in an instant, but a step away, a soda can lay, carelessly discarded. The cop aimed his gun skywards, but, a carefully calculated kick later, the can struck his hands, redirecting the shot.

I had successfully drawn attention away from the thief, but given myself a fresh set of problems. The team of cops trained their guns on me, and I had a new vision, where it was me, biting a bullet.

"Bye!" I said, quickly.

I leapt straight up to the fire escape, grabbed hold and placed my foot on the wall, and leapt across the alley, shielding my eyes as I smashed through a window, into some poor civilian's living room. A family of three cried out in alarm, staring at me with shock and righteous indignation. I blurted out repeated apologies, as I raced from their apartment, into the building's hallway, and towards the stairs. I raced upwards at top speed, almost making myself dizzy. I was barely half way up, when I heard the police enter the building, giving pursuit.

I burst out onto the building's roof, and tore the doorknob off behind me. On the roof of the building housing the bank, I saw the kid approaching the top of the fire escape. I ran across the rooftop, and effortlessly leapt the gap between the two buildings.

"Hi…" I said, indignantly, as he joined me at the top of the fire escape. "I'm Jayla, and you are?"

"Busy." He said, rudely, trying to ignore me as he walked past.

I grabbed the handle of his backpack and, pushing against his lower back, swiftly separated it from him, and held it over the edge of the building.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I said, in the voice I used when Jamie was misbehaving.

The kid had an anxious frown and made a grab for the bag. I grabbed his wrist, and dangled the bag from one finger. The kid had weirdly smooth skin, for a teenage boy.

"I'm Jayla, and you are?" I repeated.

"Alex!" He shouted, making another grab. "Gimme my bag back!"

I pushed the bag into his chest, and with my other hand, pushed his back, gently, urging him to run. "Was that so hard? Now come on, cops are coming."

Running along the main street, we leapt from rooftop to rooftop. While we were still in firing range, I ducked a bullet, and shoved Alex aside, before one hit him.

"Jayla." Dorothy called through my earpiece. "I know this might not be the best time, but another hybrid's just entered the city."

I groaned. "Seriously? Busy day… You'll have to send Emily and Mandy, I'm still kinda dealing with the last one."

"That's just it, I can't. Their pheromone signature's jumping all over the place. I think they're a teleporter. Keep your eyes peeled."

Alex and I continued our retreat from the cops, believing we were in the clear. As we leapt a particularly large gap, though, I learnt that wasn't quite the case. You see, my future vision only lets me know what's gonna happen over the next few seconds, pretty useful in a fight, or when under fire, but it's also fairly easy to work around. Say, if a mutant Gem with a personal understanding of my power saw me leap a large gap that took more than a few seconds to traverse, he'd be well within his power to just pluck me out of the air.

Although I saw it coming, I was helpless to evade, as a scaly set of talons wrapped around mine and Alex's forearms and, with a forceful gust of wind, we were hoisted higher into the air, and swept across the main street, and far beyond any radius the police would think to search, before we were dropped onto a relatively short building, surrounded by ones at least twice the size, essentially boxed in.

Alex and I rolled gracelessly to a stop, while our saviour/captor landed in front of us, and folded his wings against his side. I mention my Bald Eagle-Howlite friend, Bird Person, he was in the last story. He's a shattered Gem, who used bird DNA to keep himself from falling apart. He has more or less human-like features, like most Gems, save for a generous coat of feathers, massive wings, and threatening talons. The blue shards of his Gem were arranged around his neck, like a tribal necklace.

"Jayla…" He greeted, with an accusing edge to his voice. "Are you taking up bank robbery?"

"Are you taking up stalking?" I retorted.

"I know everything that goes on in this city. I'm very perceptive."

As if to demonstrate his point, the pupils in his sharp, yellow eyes narrowed.

"No, Bird Person, I'm not a bank robber, he is." I nodded to Alex.

Bird Person rounded on the kid, and snatched his bag from his hands. "Give me that…"

"Seriously?" I accused. "What are you gonna do with that? Return it?"

"Of course, it's the right thing to do." BP replied.

I cringed and rested my palm on my face. "It's the legal thing to do, that is not the same thing. That money belongs to hoarders who don't need it. Jesus, do you even know what the phrase 'one percent' means?"

Bird Person looked confused. "One out of a hundred?"

I placed a reassuring hand on the mutant's shoulder. "We need to have a talk…" With my other hand, I wrestled the bag back, and rounded on Alex. "And you… I hate capitalism as much as the next millennial, but you do realise you would have gotten shot back there, if not for me, right? What were you playing at? What, you need money? There are easier ways."

Alex snorted in derision. "No."

"Then what were you thinking?" I chastised.

"Look, our powers only kicked in a few months ago. It got into kind of a pissing match, and yeah… maybe I got carried away." Alex admitted reluctantly.

"Wait, our…?" I asked.

Instead of replying, Alex made another lunge for the bag, which I responded to, by holding it behind me, over the side of the building again, over a busy street. As soon as I did, though, a bin lid came soaring upwards, spinning at such a speed, that it tore the bag in two, sending the cash inside, raining down on the street below.

I looked down in disbelief, quickly spotting the culprit, another sixteen-year-old boy, this one with sandy blonde hair, wearing a tracksuit and a pair of bright yellow aviator goggles.

While Bird Person and I were distracted, Alex leapt backwards off the top of the building, giving us a two-finger salute, and a cheery, "Bye!" as he went.

Moving like Quicksilver (think Avengers, not the OP X-Men incarnation) the other hybrid ran in circles at blinding speeds, generating an air cushion which slowed Alex's descent, before catching him, and racing out of sight, between the crowds, flocking to the street, to grab at the raining cash.

Eyes wide, I slowly turned to face Bird Person, who was looking back at me. We spent a few seconds silently reacting to the surprising events. Eventually, I commented, "I like those kids…"


	3. Regrouping

"Bank robbers?" Mandy cried in disbelief.

After losing Alex, I'd bid farewell to Bird Person and returned to the lab, to regroup with the rest of the team. Emily had returned, with Mandy, and I was catching them up on what had happened. Mandy's a nerd, just like Emily, but unlike Emily, she rocks the classic nerd look, with her smooth brown hair and round glasses.

"As in, go into bank, collect money illicitly, and leave bank with said money?" Mandy clarified.

"That's the one." I sighed.

Mandy sighed too. "I guess with the… you-know-who gone, we don't have a common enemy anymore." We try not to talk about the Gem Hunters around Emily and Dorothy, too much. "Guess it was only a matter of time before we found hybrids who turned to the dark side."

"They're not bad kids…" I insisted. "They're stupid and reckless, but they didn't steal from anyone who couldn't handle it, and once we were somewhere nice and crowded, they just threw the money away. Their moral compass is fine, they just have no regard for their own safety or wellbeing."

Mandy smirked and nudged me with her shoulder. "Sounds like another teenage hybrid I used to know." She teased.

"What!?" I protested. "I was nothing like them!"

Mandy cocked an eyebrow, as if to issue a challenge. "Tell 'em about the racist cops, JJ." She instructed, shortly.

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to think of a retort. "That was different." I settled on, insistently.

Mandy turned to Emily, Jamie and Dorothy, who were eagerly awaiting the details. "So, we're sixteen, JJ and I are going to a movie, when we see these two cops, talking to this African American guy they've pulled over. We can tell, the second we're in earshot, that these guys are harassing him, and trying to pick a fight. I'm about to ask them if I can film them, to make sure they don't do anything wrong, when JJ freaking decks them both!"

Emily, Jamie and Dorothy reacted with approving amazement. I cringed embarrassedly, as I felt my ego inflate against my will.

"Damn, girl." Emily cheered, punching my shoulder, lightly. "So, what happened?"

"JJ's mom had to break out her full lawyer powers to keep JJ and the guy she 'helped' from going to prison, JJ got grounded for a month, and my parents tried very hard to convince me to stop being friends with her."

"I guess I'm lucky I had mum to reign me in." I said, thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and guess these kids don't have loving parents, looking out for them."

"Correct." Dorothy confirmed. She began typing on her laptop, and news reports popped up on the lab's monitor, detailing what Dorothy went on to explain. "These two boys have been touring the country, testing out their powers wherever and however they can."

According to the news reports, the boys' crimes had been consistent with their behaviour today. They'd robbed banks, art galleries and penthouses, spray-painted attractive murals in upper-class neighbourhoods, and, to my embarrassment, assaulted police officers. Of course, the news painted them as villains, but it was fairly obvious that they had their reasons, especially in the last case.

"So, who are they?" I asked.

"Well, the face paint and goggles are keeping the cops off their trail, but I busted out the facial recognition software, and found their social media." Dorothy said. "The harlequin is called Alex Bridger, the speedster is Steven Universe."

I stared at Dorothy, as if waiting for her to say she was kidding. She didn't. "Dorothy, that's not Steven Universe. You've _met_ Steven Universe."

Dorothy put the blonde kid's social media page on the monitor. "I don't know what to tell ya, Jayla, that's his name."

We stared at the page in disbelief. Sure enough, he had the same, seemingly unique name, as our friend in Beach City.

"It's weird enough that we've meet two hybrids with the same first name, after only nine people." Mandy pointed out. "But the exact name, Steven Universe!?"

"I think I can explain." Emily smirked, looking at a laptop of her own. "Dorothy, go on the kid's favourite music."

Dorothy did. All of the songs Steven had listed, were by someone called Mr Universe. The covers showed a young man who was about 50% hair. It took a second to click, but I realised he was Steven's dad, who I'd met once, briefly. The pictures must have been taken about twenty years ago.

"Steven's dad was a musician?" I remarked.

"Barely." Emily said. "This kid's a major hipster. Probably Mr Universe's only remaining fan. Who knows how he even found out about him? His first name's a coincidence, but I'm betting he named himself after Mr Universe, without knowing there was already a Steven Universe."

"Who names themself after a celebrity?" Jamie scoffed.

Emily sighed sadly, her attention back on her laptop. "People who don't have much of a commitment to the name they have… New Steven's dad is still around, and frankly, I wouldn't want to be named after him, either… Multiple arrests for domestic disturbances, child protection investigations, history of alcohol abuse. Christ… how did this guy score with a Gem?"

"As for Alex, his dad was killed by a mugger a couple of months ago." Dorothy stated, sadly. "He hasn't posted on social media, since, but look at his posts from before."

Scrolling down, we saw picture after picture of Alex and Steven together, it seemed like they were rarely apart. They were extremely affectionate with each other, and it seemed like a safe bet that they were more than friends. It couldn't be clearer, from their expressions, that they were everything to each other. The picture slowly fell into place.

"So, Steven grows up in a rough household. Bad enough that he thinks he's the only one of his kind, but he's also got a dirtbag dad to deal with." I summarised. "Then he finds Alex, another hybrid, and a family he can feel safe around. Around about then, teenage hormones and Gem powers hit them both like a perfect storm, and Alex's dad, the only person holding them together, dies. They've got powers they can't control, and nothing to lose… They're going to get themselves killed!"

"Where are they now?" Emily asked urgently.

Dorothy switched back to her hybrid tracker. "The programme can't track Steven when he's running at top speed, which means it can't keep track of which dot Steven and Alex are, but assuming they haven't left the city yet… here."

The map zoomed in on a warehouse, in a small industrial estate, on the outskirts of the city. Inside, were two dots.

"Right… We need more eyes. Dorothy, Jamie, can you two get in touch with Olivia, see if she can help us keep track of them?" I asked. "Emily, Mandy, you two come with me, we'll see if we can persuade them to talk."

"I'm sorry…" Dorothy said, sounding more accusing than sorry. "Who's the boss here?"

"I am." I immediately replied.

"I pay your salary, Jayla!"

"And my leadership is worth every penny." I said, sweetly.

"I'm the one with the multi-million dollar lab!"

"And I'm the one with the devilish charm and charisma."

"Guys…" Emily irritably interrupted. "Children in danger?"

"Right." I said, quickly, "Let's go."

As Emily, Mandy and I raced for the building's parking lot, Mandy asked, "So why am I coming with you guys?"

"Mandy, these are dangerous hybrids on the run, but they're also aimless, teenage boys." I pointed out. "Emily and I are coming as muscle, but what we need here is your mum powers."

"For the last time, I'm not a mom!" Mandy snipped.

It was a subject of ridicule for Emily and me, but it was also true. Although she was technically his cousin-in-law, Mandy had sunk effortlessly in the role of Jamie's mother figure, almost as soon as Dorothy adopted him. As responsible and reliable as the two Peridots were, neither Dorothy nor Emily could exactly be described as warm. Mandy, on the other hand, had read countless bedtime stories, never missed a school play, and practically materialised out of thin air, whenever Jamie hurt himself.

As we ran out into the parking lot, Mandy continued. "Okay, say I am a mom, what are my 'mom powers'?" She scoffed.

Emily and I got into the front seats of Emily's car, while Mandy climbed into the back. We shared a look, for less than a second, which confirmed it was an obvious answer, and gave it in unison. "The mom stare."

"The mom stare?" Mandy repeated, in confusion.

"You don't know you do it?" I asked, in disbelief. "It's withering."

"It's kinda hot…" Emily quietly added.

"Anyway, assuming these kids aren't lesbians with mummy issues…"

"Hilarious." Emily sourly interrupted.

"… I guarantee that stare will work."

With an admittedly shaky understanding of what the plan was, Emily put her foot down, and drove us towards our second confrontation with the troublesome new hybrids.


	4. Tag Team

The warehouse the kids were taking refuge in was a derelict, funnily enough, because of us. Shortly before the Crystal Gem army had been cured by the Diamonds, we had had a stand off with a gigantic corrupted Gem, which, in the course of the fight, had fallen onto the warehouse, caving in half of the roof. We'd anxiously awaited ramifications, which never came. Turns out the company which owns the warehouse didn't get much use out of it, so they were happy to cash their insurance cheque and leave the building in squalor.

The industrial estate was quiet, save for the distant whirring of machinery, so as we approached on foot, we heard the faint sound of voices, coming from inside. The three of us huddled up.

"Right, so Plan A here is still to start a peaceful dialogue." I whispered. "But we still need to be ready for a fight. Emily? The door?"

Emily's Gem glowed faintly, beneath her fringe, for a second. "Electronic lock." She confirmed.

"Perfect. You two go in through the door, and lie low, I'll go in through the ruined half and get their attention. If it turns into a fight, then you got my back."

"What if it doesn't turn into a fight?" Mandy pointed out. "Mightn't they take issue with us revealing we've been lurking in the shadows?"

"I mean… no?" I tried, uncertainly. "Maybe I can play it off as a joke? You know, 'Oh, we're not going to fight? Okay, call off the ambush, guys!'"

"Alright, one more thing." Mandy said, quickly, but still quietly. "The whole 'mom stare' thing. Were you serious about that?"

"Yeah." I said, sincerely. "It's really a thing you do. It's the face you make when Jamie hasn't done his homework. You know… caring but disappointed."

Mandy looked uncertain, like she still wasn't aware that was a face she regularly made. "I'll give it a try…"

"Don't put yourself in danger." I hastily clarified. "Okay, let's do this."

While Dorothy and Mandy approached the door, I made my way along the building, to its collapsed half, and leapt up what remained of the wall, then, nimbly stepped down the pile of rubble on the other side, without making too much noise.

Inside the warehouse, were dozens of tall stacks, like gigantic shelves. A few of them were still standing upright, but many had been crushed when the building was destroyed, and a lot had simply dominoed. I stepped carefully between them, heading to the intact half of the building, where the voices were coming from.

"A bird?"

"Well, it was like a Gem, but also like a bird? It was weird."

"Do you think that's normal?"

"He'd probably have gone back to Homeworld by now if it was."

I cleared my throat quietly, before calling out. "Hello?"

The boys immediately fell silent, and a moment later, they emerged from between the stacks, at the other end of the warehouse. Alex was still wearing his leotard, and Steven, his tracksuit, but they had lost the face paint and goggles.

"Oh, it's you." Alex reacted, before turning to Steven. "She's the one who chased me away from the bank."

"What do you want with us?" Steven asked me, warily. "You're not some off-duty cop, right?"

"Really?" I asked, with a mocking head tilt. "Your friend saw me effortlessly leaping alleyways and dodging bullets. You still haven't figured it out?"

I pulled down the neck of my t-shirt, revealing my tiny, oblong Gem. Evidently the boys hadn't figured it out, they stared at my Gem in surprise and confusion.

"You're a hybrid?" Alex remarked.

"I mean, you are, right?" Steven asked, uncertainly. "I've never seen an alien Gem that small…"

"I am." I assured. "And I didn't come here to compare sizes, but since I'm showing you mine…"

The boys looked at each other and shrugged. Alex pulled the neck of his leotard over his shoulder, and Steven took off his top. Both of them had a Gem in the same place, but on different upper arms. On Steven's right, was a green, circular Gem, with a square facet, and on Alex's left, was a deep purple Gem, cut perfectly into the shape of a love heart.

"So why _did _you come here?" Alex asked, after they'd both put their clothes back on.

"I came to talk about your… behaviour…" I sighed internally. Being the responsible adult sucked. I was starting to fear Mandy was right. Sixteen-year-old me would hate me for being such a goody two-shoes.

"What? You're gonna tell us it's wrong?" Steven said, patronisingly. "Oh, woe are the poor, rich assholes…"

"The people we steal from, need stealing from." Alex insisted. "No one ever earns fabulous supercars or penthouse apartments, they just exploit the people underneath them."

I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. They were right, of course, but an idiot could tell that the real motivation for the boys' crime spree was a need to act out against any and every authority figure they could find. I tried my hardest not to become one myself.

"I know, and you've probably done some real good." I said, warmly. "That money you dumped on the street is probably going to really help some people out, but this still isn't the way to bring about change."

"Why not?" Steven asked, frustrated.

"Because you're going to get yourselves killed!" I said, raising my voice slightly.

"What do you care?" Steven retorted, angrily. "You're not our mom."

"I care about any stupid kid, putting himself in danger, but I care about you guys specifically, because you're Gems, like me!"

"You're not like us." Alex scoffed, like a jock, turning a nerd away from his cafeteria table. "I'm a Spinel and Steven's a Tektite! What are you? A pebble?"

I'm a Jet…" I said, proudly and intimidatingly. It seemed the boys were looking to pick a fight, and I resignedly decided the best course of action would be to just lean into it. "I've got powers that can and will wipe the floor with both of you if you don't chill."

Steven smirked, with a gleam of his Gem, his aviator goggles materialised on his face, and the next second he vanished, with a gust of wind. Moving like a blur, he dashed between the stacks behind me, then leapt overhead. He was trying to freak me out, and it wasn't working. Finally, he attacked, but of course, I sensed it coming. He came at me from the side, and I effortlessly stepped back and stuck my foot out, tripping him to the floor, and sending him sliding into the warehouse wall.

Alex looked shocked. I assumed it wasn't often they met someone who could predict the speedster's actions. He adopted an angry expression, and charged in his fallen comrade's stead. Ironically, Alex's attacks were harder to foresee than his speedy friend. His movements were erratic, and unpredictable. He leapt overhead, flipped forwards and kicked down, cartwheeled clear of my punches and delivered blows and kicks from angles that would be impossible for someone with a human skeletal system.

While attempting to wrestle Alex into submission, I loudly taunted. "I could handle you kids all by myself!" Knowing Mandy and Emily were watching, ready to leap into action, but I felt I'd earn the boys' respect easier if I beat them one on two.

Sensing Steven coming at me again, I planted my feet on the floor, and hurled Alex into his path. Steven crashed into him, and the two went rolling across the warehouse floor, landing in a heap.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Steven asked, climbing to his knees.

"I'm fine, are you?" Alex replied.

It was cute, and kind of a relief to see teenage boys being comfortable with their vulnerabilities. Now if I could just get them to hash out their self-destructive behaviour, they'd be well on their way to redemption.

"She wasn't kidding. Jets are pretty badass." Alex said to Steven.

"Maybe too much for either one of us to handle alone." Steven replied. He held his hand out to Alex and wiggled his eyebrows, suggestively.

With a big smile on his face, Alex took Steven's hand, and span towards him, on his toes, like they were ballroom dancing. Steven embraced Alex, and my confusion turned to astonishment, as their Gems glowed, and the air in the warehouse began to whip around them like a tornado. With a glare of light, the boys were gone, replaced by a 6.5 foot adult, with long, strawberry blonde hair, beefy muscles and the face of a model.

"You might be able to go toe to toe with Steven and Alex." The newcomer said, their voice dripping with confidence. "But let's see how you handle… Stelex!"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "HYBRIDS CAN FUSE!?" I shouted, in amazement.

Stelex twisted his body and began to spin on the spot, looking silly initially, but quickly spinning so fast, he was a green and pink blur. He shot at me, sending stacks flying aside in his wake. I backflipped away at the last second, jumped off an airborne shelf and summoned a pair of jet black boomerangs from my Gem, throwing them from the air. Stelex stopped spinning and effortlessly caught my weapons in each hand.

"Your weapon is boomerangs?" He remarked, with none of his components' teen cynicism. "That's pretty cool, but you know what they say about boomerangs."

Stelex span his arms like windmills and threw my weapons back at me. They came like bullets, leaving holes in the warehouse wall, far behind me. I was only just able to evade them, leaving no room to evade again, as the fusion shot at me like a blur, winding me with a punch to the gut, before sending me flying with a spinning jump kick.

Before I too went crashing through the warehouse wall, I was stopped, by two waiting pairs of hands. On my shoulders.

"Okay, I'm tagging myself in." Emily said, assertively.

"Probably a good idea." I agreed, wincing slightly.

"Be careful!" Mandy shouted at Stelex, angrily. "You could have killed her!"

"I think this is as good an opponent as any, to bust out my new powers against." Emily said, determinedly, cracking her knuckles.

Mandy rested a hand on her shoulder. "You be careful too, okay babe?"

After shooting a reassuring smile at Mandy, Emily stepped forwards and braced her hands. Green lightning crackled from her Gem, down her arms, and around her fingers.

"UNLIMITED POWER!" Emily cried, as she blasted lightning bolts at Stelex.

After what she did to the Gem Hunters, Emily had come close to losing her humanity. As it turned out, her healing process had come with some pretty nifty new Gem powers.

The first lightning bolt caught Stelex unaware, and blasted him off his feet, and across the warehouse, but before the second one struck, he backflipped to his feet, cartwheeled across the wreckage, and retaliated by kicking a boulder of plaster at Emily like a football. Summoning all my strength, I stepped forwards and pounded the boulder to dust. We barely had time to retaliate, though, before Stelex leapt through the cloud, and struck me with a second jump kick, sending me flying into Emily, and the pair of us landing in a heap.

"We're getting out asses handed to us by teenagers!" I angrily pointed out.

"You guys can leave, soon as you realise I don't need you babysitting me." Stelex teased.

"They're more in sync than we are, because they're literally one person." Emily thought aloud. "Maybe… I mean… you know… if they can do it…?" She began, awkwardly.

"I'm in if you are." I said, kind of nervous myself.

"Wh… what?" Mandy reacted, in surprise.

Emily and I held hands, and we span around each other, neither of us, particularly good dancers. I only had a vague understanding of how fusion was supposed to work. You had to be in sync with the other person, emotionally bonded, and united in common interests. I was pretty close with Emily, she was a great friend, and we had a ton in common, namely, a hopeless adoration for one adorable nerd. And right now, we were united in an urge to beat some sense into a couple of hot-headed kids.

Resolved as I was, in that second goal, I almost forgot my current goal of attempting fusion. I looked at Stelex, who looked back in surprise, then looked at an astonished Mandy, who had somehow become a foot shorter. Then I realised Mandy wasn't shorter, I was taller! My skin was paler, my tattoos were a spiralling blend of mine and Emily's aesthetics, and I could only see half as much, due to the Gem, that had replaced one of my eyes.

I felt strong. There was power surging through me, but I knew it wasn't just the two Gems, it was a combined determination and passion. It was an incredible high, and unlike anything I'd ever felt before, but if I had to compare it to something, I'd say it was like that warm feeling you feel in your chest when you're having, just the best time, hanging out with your friends.

"Okay!" I cheered, triumphantly. "You're a match for Jayla and Emily? Well here comes Jamily!"

I summoned a boomerang in each hand. They were about five times their usual size, and crackling with green lightning. Stelex leapt desperately out of the way of the first, which exploded on impact with the rubble and, having leapt into the corner of the warehouse, he was powerless to evade the second. Instead, he braced himself and caught the weapon with both hands, and then cried out in pain as he was electrocuted. Stelex barely threw the hazardous weapon aside, in time to see me flying at him, foot first.

Breathing heavily, Stelex blocked with his forearm, and pushed backwards, I backflipped to the ground and darted forwards, fist first, but my punch ended up hitting air, after Stelex vanished. I looked into the future and was amazed to see the entire fight branching out before me. With Jet's power, combined with Emily's analytical mind, there was nothing the boys could do to surprise me!

I thrust my elbow backward, winding Stelex as they attempted a sneak attack from behind, I followed through with a high kick, and blasted Stelex with lightning before he hit the ground. The other fusion landed in a pile of rubble with a crash, and lay still, save for the rising and falling of his chest. Seizing the opportunity to end the fight with a bang, I leapt into the air, and prepared to strike with a fist, surging with lightning.

"STOOOP!" Mandy rushed in front of the floored Stelex and held her arms out, defensively.

I windmilled my arms in the air, trying to keep myself from landing on top of Mandy. I just managed to kick off the ground again, before I squished her, instead falling, inelegantly, into the rubble behind her, separating from Emily with a flash of light, as I did.

"Mandy!" I complained, as I pushed myself off the ground. "We almost crushed you!"

"And why do you think I had to put myself in danger like that?" Mandy scolded.

I looked up. There it was. That look. The look that said, "I care about you, and that's why your actions have upset me". My frustration evaporated immediately.

"We were getting carried away…" I acknowledged.

"Sorry Mandy." Emily added.

Meanwhile, Stelex tried to strenuously pry himself from the ground, looking like I did, when I reached for my alarm clock in the morning. Before long, he gave up, collapsing back down, and separating, with another flash of light.

Mandy rounded on the boys, her expression not faltering in the slightest. "I hope you boys learnt something from all this." She held out her hands, and helped the two of them to their feet, while they nursed their bruises with their other arms.

"What were we supposed to learn?" Steven asked, sarcastically. "Do as you say, or get punched?"

"The lesson is not to pick a fight with us, because we're badass." Emily joked.

"We don't want to hurt you guys, and we don't want you getting hurt by the police, either." I added, warmly.

"Will you please come back to our apartment with us, so we can help you guys out?" Mandy finished.

Still clutching his chest, Alex rested his arm over Steven's shoulder. He seemed to be putting most of his weight on his friend, even though they were both in equally bad shape. I realised why, a second too late.

"Wait!" I cried as, almost simultaneously, the boys vanished from sight.

The three of us stared in silence at where they'd been standing, for a second. Eventually, I groaned loudly, and started walking towards the warehouse door.

"I need a nap…"


	5. The New Threat

So, the confrontation at the warehouse didn't really work… but it wasn't a total failure. According to the tracker, the kids didn't leave the city over the following days, and news of their crime spree slowed to a halt. I hoped that had something to do with us. We didn't try to reach out again, though. Between one heck of a fight, and my first fusion, I was pretty wiped out. Jamie was devastated that he'd missed out on seeing Jamily, both he and the other hybrids, when we called them, were fascinated by the news that hybrids could fuse. The only one of our group who didn't seem to enjoy hearing about Jamily, was Mandy, who got very quiet, whenever we started talking about her.

It was two days after the warehouse, when Emily and I were relaxing on the couch, in her apartment. The TV was connected to a Gem terminal in the lab, which meant it could pick up Homeworld transmissions. Over the past two years, Steven Universe (original flavour) had been touring Gem-controlled space, and shining the light of individualism and freedom. Somewhere along the way, Steven had mentioned some Earth TV shows, and unwittingly introduced Gems to the concept of televised fiction. Two of the first Gems he freed, Yellow and Blue Diamond's Pearls, had taken this information and started their own TV network, for which we had to thank, for the delightfully corny courtroom drama Emily and I were enjoying.

"But is it not true…" Elaborated a Zircon, a Gem lawyer, who was interrogating a Ruby defendant. "That the fusion known as Beryl, features a Bismuth, and a Ruby with a gem on her left shoulder?"

The Ruby looked, nervously, at her Gem, in the same place. "Maybe… but I know a bunch of Rubies with shoulder Gems! You can't prove nothin'!"

The Zircon simpered smugly, and polished her Gem with her sleeve. "No, I certainly can't speak for your supposed tendency for fusing with a Bismuth to form Beryl… but perhaps your ex-squad mate could!"

Zircon flourished to the court room door, just before it was kicked open forcefully by a second, angry-looking Ruby.

The Ruby at the stand gasped in amazement and fear. "Ruby!? You're alive!?"

The screen darkened and the words "TO BE CONTINUED" appeared, in bold, red letters. Emily and I burst into fits of giggles. Gems hadn't really got the hang of subtlety in writing yet. It was even funnier, watching their attempts at horror movies. Ironically though, comedy, they were sincerely good at. Yellow Pearl's stand-up routine had me in stitches every time.

Before the next show started, Mandy walked through the door from the lab, with a nervous expression on her face. We quickly noticed this, and Emily turned the TV off, before Mandy said a word.

"You okay, sweetie?" Emily asked, worriedly.

"Yeah, I just… I wanted to… I was thinking…" Mandy started and stopped several times, like an unreliable car engine. She took a deep breath, pulled a foot rest in front of the couch, between me and Emily, and sat on it cross-legged. "You know I love you guys, right?"

Emily and I shared a concerned and confused look.

"Of course, I love you too…" I replied.

"Big time…" Emily added.

"Well… look… I'm not mad at you guys, and I don't want you to do anything different in the future or anything… I just wanted to share how I feel…" Mandy awkwardly proceeded.

Mandy was clearly struggling. I tried to help. "It this about Jamily?" I guessed.

"Yeah…" Mandy replied, quietly.

"What about her?" Emily pressed. "Does it upset you that JJ and I can fuse?"

"No!" Mandy quickly argued, before looking at our sceptical faces. "I don't want you to feel like you shouldn't fuse in the future. You did it for a good reason, and I'm sure in the future you'll have even worse fights, where fusion could probably save your lives, and even if you didn't, fusion is something really special you guys share, and I'd never want to get in the way of that. It's just… Garnet told me once that fusion is like the ultimate expression of a relationship's strength. Of course you two can fuse, you're great friends, and I'm so glad about that, but I can't fuse with either of you. It's an important way for Gems to show they care about each other, and I can't share that with you guys..."

She stared at her feet, sadly. Of course, if you've followed the exploits of Steven Universe, then you probably already know what we'd eventually come to discover- that humans can, in fact, fuse with human-Gem hybrids. Ignorant of that fact, though, Emily and I frowned and our hearts ached, as we felt Mandy's sadness radiating off her.

"Come here." Emily demanded, gently, holding her arms out.

Smiling reluctantly, Mandy sat in Emily's lap and let her wrap her arms around her. "I don't need fusion to validate how much I love you." She said, softly.

I pulled them both into a hug. "Same! I already knew Emily was my bro. So far as I'm concerned, all Jamily is, is a cool fighting technique."

Okay, that was a bit of a lie. Like I said, being Jamily felt amazing, and really enforced mine and Emily's relationship. Mandy probably knew me fell enough to know when I was lying, but she seemed to appreciate it, nonetheless.

The door to the lab opened again, and Dorothy and Jamie entered. They both made expressions of childish disgust at the display of affection.

"Ugh, get a room…" Dorothy said, quietly.

"We had a room!" I retorted. "We were here first!"

"Well I'm commandeering it." Dorothy sat on the couch next to us, and Jamie climbed into her lap. "I just got word from Homeworld, Steven's about to make his broadcast."

We immediately shared Dorothy's interest. News had been travelling, that Steven's adventures through Gem-controlled space were drawing to an end. Soon, he would have finished bringing an end to Homeworld's tyrannical rule over its own people, and brought peace to all Gemkind, and everyone, including us, was eager to hear what was next for the young prodigy.

We turned the TV back on, just in time. The broadcast started with a song from the diamonds, followed by helpful exposition dump, detailing Steven's life, from White Diamond, in the form of a story book. Steven had told me about White Diamond, how she'd been a nightmare when they first met (by which I mean terrifying, not frustrating). I really couldn't see it. Granted, I'd only seen her in transmissions, but she always came off as a clingy, overzealous mum, type.

Anyway, when White was done, the focus shifted down to Steven. He cheerily greeted all of Gemkind, and before long, he issued his ultimatum. As much fun as he'd had over the past two years, Steven Universe would be returning to earth, and his home in Beach City.

"Yes!" I cheered gratefully, only partially because I felt like the was the right decision.

Emily and I held our hands out to Dorothy, who reluctantly reached for her wallet and handed us each ten dollars.

"We'll have to visit him again." Mandy suggested. "It's been ages since we've seen the Crystal Gems!"

"Definitely." I agreed. "I'll call him once he'd settled in."

Just like our family, Gems all across the universe were responding to the news. Some Gems were dismayed that they'd likely never get a chance to meet their hero, while others were glad that there was one fewer matriarch on Homeworld's thrones. Some were excited, and some were apprehensive, and a minority were even fearful for what the future held, and of course, one lonely Spinel saw the transmission from an abandoned garden, and felt her heart break… but it wasn't just Gems, responding to the transmission…

Lightyears away, a hollowed out husk that was once a planet hung in a swirling, purple nebula. The dark shadows of crumbling spires, were illuminated by the Gem console which hesitantly flickered into life, shining precious little light on the desolate ruins. Once Steven's message ended, something shifted in the dirt, for the first time in thousands of years. Slowly, an arched back rose up, deploying jagged spines, one after the other. Two hands, each with three clawed fingers slammed into the dirt, stabilising the beast as it rose higher. Two jaws, the length of skateboards, separated, revealing rows upon rows of sinister teeth.

The creature had no eyes, but it turned its head in the direction of the console. "Steee-vin… Uni… vers…" It hissed to itself.

With no other provocation, the beast threw its head upwards, bore its teeth and roared at the swirling, purple sky.


	6. First Contact

I drummed my fingers across the screen of my inactive phone, as I stared at the lab's wall.

"Hey Steven..." I rehearsed, quietly. "Long time no see! We should hang out... ugh... lame..."

"JJ, you're acting like you're gonna call someone you have a crush on." Mandy pointed out, with a smirk. "Which is really creepy, since you're calling a sixteen-year-old boy. Just call him."

"I've never called someone, after they've come back from dismantling an alien dictatorship! I don't know how long you're supposed to wait!" I pointed out.

I hadn't waited that long, since the broadcast, barely the length of an average musical number or two, in fact, and I suspected Steven would still be winding down, and wanting to relax.

I was just about to return my phone to my pocket and resign myself to calling after a couple of days, when all hell broke loose. An ear-splitting siren blared out through the lab's speakers, and the lights turned red, and flashed angrily. Dorothy sprinted into the lab so fast, she almost ploughed into one of the work surfaces. A moment later, the sirens stopped, but the lights continued to flash.

"New hybrid?" I asked, hopefully.

Dorothy's expression was dark. "We're under attack."

"Seriously!?" Mandy cried.

At Dorothy's command, the lab monitor showed an orbital view of earth, with a flashing red circle over Beach City.

"That alarm means that human satellites have picked up an extra-terrestrial object with a massive energy signature, entering earth's atmosphere." Dorothy said, darkly.

With some more tapping on her laptop, Dorothy produced a blurry image, captured by a satellite, of what looked like a giant, pink hourglass.

"What is that?" Emily asked, warily.

"An injector..." Dorothy whispered. "A big one... And it's heading straight for Beach City..."

"Guess we're visiting Steven after all." Mandy said, decisively. "Come on."

After a minute of scrambling for armour and weapons, we ran for the lab's door. The exact second my hand touched the handle though, the sirens blared again. I turned to Dorothy with dread on my face.

"Please tell me that was just to remind us of the first extra-terrestrial object..."

Dorothy raced over to her laptop again and brought back the map of earth and, sure enough, there was a second glowing, red circle, this one over Empire City.

"Are you kidding me? A two-pronged assault!?" I cried.

In many ways, Beach City and Empire City were the two Gem Capitals of Earth. There was no other city I knew of, with a higher concentration of Gems and Gem hybrids. If a fleet of ships came to earth, intent on destroying all Gems, those would be the cities to go to. But then, of course, the object heading for Beach City was of Gem design. The plot thickened...

"No, I don't think so..." Dorothy said, worriedly. "The energy signature on our one is different... I don't think it's a Gem machine. Hang on... it'll be in range of the roof cam in a second."

The screen switched to a view of Empire City's skyline, with the cloudy sky above. Slowly, the clouds parted, clearing out of the way of the huge object descending through them. It was a spaceship, not something gaudy and impractical-looking like a Gem ship (Namely Steven's, which inexplicably resembled a gigantic pair of legs...) but imposing and aerodynamic, like a gigantic fighter jet. A pair of enormous retrothrusters, beneath the wings, burnt intimidatingly, as it slowly descended.

Everyone in the lab turned to Dorothy in the hopes of an alien's input, on the alien craft. That might have been silly, and possibly a little racist, given how many alien races there probably are in the universe, but as it turned out, Dorothy's expression confirmed that she did recognise the ship, but not only that, she looked terrified of it. Dorothy had turned even paler than usual, her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably, and she slowly shook her head back and forth.

"Dorothy...?" Jamie prompted, worriedly.

Dorothy looked around, at our concerned expressions, and forced herself to snap out of it. "Oh... nothing... it... it must be an old relic that got salvaged."

"As opposed to what?" Emily asked, suspiciously. "What is that thing?"

"It... it doesn't matter." Dorothy insisted. "I was just confused. The species that manufactured this craft is extinct."

"But why..." I began, before I was interrupted.

"Stars!" Dorothy cursed. "Do you people want a full history of the galaxy and its people, or should we deal with the fact that THE EARTH IS UNDER ATTACK!? Come on, let's go!"

With an annoying number of questions unanswered, we headed back towards the door, hoping this time, to get out without another alien craft breaching the atmosphere. As usual, for a combat mission, we all wore Peridot Labs armour- chest plates which projected a kinetic energy field, which disintegrated bullets. Maybe it was a little optimistic to think that space-faring aliens would use ballistic weaponry, but the armour also featured sleek gauntlets which fired energy pulses from the palms, and also it looked pretty cool.

Together, the five of us raced to the building's parking lot, and Dorothy's enormous RV, which we used for long-term missions. Dorothy drove out onto the streets, and towards the ship, which we could just barely glimpse, through the surrounding skyscrapers. The sight of the enormous alien craft was causing quite the stir with Empire City's citizens. People seemed torn between running for their lives, and racing towards the craft to get a better look, and some juicy pics for social media.

Along the way, we gently tried to coax Dorothy towards telling us more about the mysterious, alien race that had built the ship, but it was like talking to a rock that _wasn't _sentient.

Eventually, we came to a stop, parking on an almost abandoned street, beyond the point where even the bravest bloggers dared to tread. The ship was almost directly above us and descending past the roofs of the city's taller buildings. As we all raced for the doors, Dorothy picked Jamie up and sat him down at the RV's breakfast nook.

"Jamie, you stay here." She instructed.

"But... aliens...!" Jamie whined, in protest.

"Potentially hostile aliens!" Dorothy elaborated. "Something which, based on my understanding of human parenting, I should be keeping as far from you as possible. Be glad you came this far."

Emily patted Jamie's shoulder encouragingly. "She's right, little man."

Sulking, but not arguing further, Jamie sat still, while the rest of us raced outside. As we looked up, the craft slowed to a halt, and hung in the air. The force exerted by its thrusters was kicking wind in all directions. We had to regularly blink dust out of our eyes. Unsurprisingly, I could just about make out Bird Person, swooping around the craft, inspecting it from all directions. When he was satisfied, he came diving down towards us, landing on his feet with enough force to crack the tarmac.

"It's alien. It's heavily-armed." He summarised. "What do you know?"

"Nothing." Dorothy immediately responded.

"She's lying." I informed Bird Person, casually.

"Shut up..." Dorothy bitterly replied.

"Guys, look!" Mandy said.

We followed Mandy's finger, back to the ship, where a small, rectangular platform, suspended by a miniature jet engine in each corner, descended towards the street, with the alien pilot aboard. The creature was _very_ alien. It stood at around eight feet tall, even though it was hunched over. It almost resembled a crocodile, save for the fact that it was bipedal, its lack of eyes, and its snake-like tongue, three times the length of its head, swishing back and forth through the air. At first, I thought it was wearing metallic armour, before I noticed that the inorganic plates covering its body were fused to its skin. The parts of its body that weren't metal-plated, were covered in moss green scales. The only clothes it wore, was a large, deep blue cape, secured to a metal band, around its neck.

"No... no no no no no, that's impossible, they're dead." Dorothy whispered, when the creature was still several seconds away from landing on the street.

I rounded on her. "Dorothy. Tell us what it is, _now_!"

Dorothy turned to face me. I jumped. I'd never seen her look so serious. "Get back in the RV! All of you!"

"What? No!" Emily protested. "We're not..."

"GET BACK IN THE FREAKING RV!" Dorothy shouted. "I'll handle this!"

Emily squeezed Mandy's hand reassuringly, as we all shared a nervous look. Reluctantly, the three of us retreated to the vehicle, joining Jamie inside, and watching the scene through the windows.

Dorothy and Bird Person stood shoulder to shoulder, as the platform touched down on the street. The reptilian alien stepped towards the two Gems, reared up to its full height and swished its tongue back and forth. No doubt it was tasting the air, like a snake, to accommodate for its lack of eyes. I wondered if it was able to see inorganic Gems and, following that logic, how it kept from bumping into things that weren't food.

As soon as the platform landed, four orbs, like metallic tennis balls, each with a wide, red eye, floated in different directions. We flinched as one passed the RV, taking a good, long look at us, as it passed, before flying away.

Dorothy cleared her throat. What she did next, I initially mistook for her screaming at the creature. When she kept making the shrill sound, though, I noticed the specific alterations in pitch and volume. After a moment, Dorothy stopped, and the creature replied. The sounds it made were more animalistic, like the roar of a lion, but still, it was clear that a concise, verbal language, not too dissimilar from our own, was being spoken.

The four of us watched, with bated breath, as the exchange went back and forth. It was impossible to tell how the creature was reacting to Dorothy's words, and Dorothy herself, had her back turned on us, making her own mood just as hard to decipher. Bird Person looked back and forth, with a wary frown on his face. I suspected he didn't understand what was being said, either.

Eventually, the conversation concluded. An agonising silence fell, save for the howling winds, the ship was still producing. After what felt like hours, the creature responded, not with words though, but by dropping to all fours and pouncing at Dorothy.

"DOROTHY!" Emily screamed.

Before even bird person could react. The alien picked Dorothy up, with the ease of a child picking up a stuffed animal, with one hand on her head, and the other holding her ankles together, her lab coat flailing behind her. Effortlessly, the alien monster tore Dorothy apart like a fortune cookie, resulting in a burst of green smoke, and her green, triangular Gem falling to the street.

Bird Person thrust with his arm and a funnel of wind shot at the beast like a train. It almost lifted off the air, before it sank its front claws into the street, grinding to a halt. Before it could attack again, BP rolled Dorothy's Gem onto his foot and kicked her into his hand, like a football. He rounded on the RV.

"DRIVE!" He ordered.

Satisfied that Dorothy was safe, Emily bounded into the driver's seat, and sent the RV careening in reverse, before performing a terrifying handbrake turn, to spin the enormous vehicle around. Looking out the back window, while Emily drove, I saw the creature bounding after us, on all fours.

"Drive straight!" I ordered Emily, before climbing up, through the vehicle's skylight.

Trying not to be too excited that I was living out one of my action heroine fantasies, I stepped as quickly as I could, across the roof of the speeding vehicle, and stared down the rapidly approaching reptile. Reaching for my Gem, I produced a boomerang in each hand, and threw them as hard as I could. Each one struck the beast directly in between where it's eyes would have been, if it was a crocodile, but it barely reacted in the slightest. Summoning all my Gem strength, I manifested a boomerang, the size of which, Jamily could easily create, and hurled it, after spinning around on the spot, to put my full weight behind the attack. The enormous weapon span through the air, and struck the creature with an agonising-sounding crash, briefly pinning its head to the floor, cracking the street beneath it.

Shrugging off the weapon, the alien leapt upwards to the surrounding skyscraper walls, clinging to them with its claws. It leapt back and forth, across the street, growing closer each time. We were on a long, straight road, helpless to evade, as the beast leapt directly overhead, and plummeted towards us, claws first.

At the last second, Bird Person flew at the monster like a missile. Tackling it from the air and into the side of a building. The attack had been reckless and life-threatening. BP had had to use his full force, to make up for his diminutive size, compared to his opponent, and he fell, stunned and wounded, onto the tarmac beside it. Dorothy's Gem went clattering out of his hands, across the street.

The beast picked itself up and growled angrily, before pounding the mutated Howlite with its fist, destroying him with a burst of blue smoke and feathers.

"BIRD PERSON!" I cried.

Without stopping to think of myself, I leapt from the speeding RV and rolled as I hit the street. I raced towards the beast, throwing boomerangs as fast as I could, aiming for its tongue, in the hopes of blinding it. The beast attempted to slash at me with its claws, but I dived painfully across the tarmac, scooping Dorothy's Gem and Bird Person's shards into my arms as I went. I quickly rolled over and scrambled backwards, as the alien towered menacingly over me.

Emily had stopped the RV, and she, Mandy and Jamie were running to my aid, but it seemed like they were too late. Just as it seemed like the monster was about to pound me into a pile of unsalvageable goo, though, a red light on its metallic chest plate flashed silently. The creature froze, and looked up, like it'd had heard an alarming noise. With no further regard for me, it dropped to all fours and raced off, through the city.

"JJ, are you alright?" Mandy cried, dropping to her knees and pulling me into a hug.

"I'll live... But what was all that about...?" I asked rhetorically.

Emily took Dorothy's Gem and held it to her chest with a relieved sigh. "We'll ask Dorothy once she's reformed, and I've kicked her ass..."

I looked at the five blue shards that had been Bird Person. He had only survived his faulty conception with the aid of bird DNA. "I hope he manages to reform, too..."

"At any rate, I think it's safe to assume, that this is unrelated to what's happening in Beach City." Emily predicted.

"But what are the chances of two alien attacks happening at the same time?" Jamie pointed out.

"Well, someone from earth, _did_ just send a message out to the whole universe." Mandy added.

"Yeah, but why would someone come to Empire City, looking for..." I started.

A collective look of realisation fell on the group. It was a safe bet that both invaders had come to earth, responding to a message from Steven Universe. If so, it meant that our invader was homing in on the wrong one.


	7. Falling Back

Once again, we must journey back, to find out what was happening elsewhere, while I was busy. Later on, Alex would tell me what he and Steven were doing, when the alien landed. You know what teenagers are like though, so parts of this may be exaggerated, but I digress.

Steven and Alex were at a popular clothing chain, spending some of the hard-stolen cash they hadn't thrown to the masses (a severe minority, to their credit). Steven had treated himself to some stylish workout gear, he could run in, while Alex had bought a more aesthetic-focussed hoodie and pair of jeans.

They were on their way to lunch, and discussing the recent days' events, around about the time I was riding the RV, furiously fighting off the alien attacker.

"So... what do you think about... you know... getting back to it?" Steven asked, gently, as they walked.

Alex looked around, and blushed furiously. "Here!? Oh... you mean stealing stuff... right. I dunno man..."

"You still thinking about what that boomerang chick said?"

"It's not so much what she said... just the fact that she and the lightning girl exist, you know? When I met you, I figured that it was a miracle that there was another Gem hybrid, now it's like there are at least four of us. What if we leave town, and we never see another hybrid?" Alex said.

"Then we'll have each other." Steven replied. He didn't seem to share his partner's longing for community, but he understood it.

Alex squeezed Steven's hand reassuringly. "Don't feel like you're not enough, okay?"

Steven quickly waved off Alex's suggestion. "Nah, I get it, it's fine. So, what do you want to do?"

Alex stared at his feet and exhaled loudly. "I dunno... I just don't wanna feel like we've missed out on making some important connections here..."

It was around about then, when the boys started to notice something abnormal was afoot. Wind was kicking up, and people were starting to sprint back and forth, through the street, some of them screaming in terror. With a cautious look at each other, the boys raced around the nearest corner and were treated to the distant sight, of the alien craft, hanging above the heart of the city.

"What the heck is that...?" Alex asked, rhetorically.

Before Steven could answer, one of the tiny, spherical probes came floating down the street. The two hybrids stood, nervously rooted to the spot, as the metal ball floated around them, staring at them with an interest which would be incredibly uncomfortable, coming from another person. When the orb got an eyeful of Steven, a series of red lights began bleeping on its surface, and it promptly flew back the way it had come.

The two hybrids stared on in stunned silence, for a moment, before Alex said, "Maybe we should think about leaving town for a bit..."

"Are you kidding me!?" Steven cried. "There's an alien ship hanging over the city, and you wanna leave!?"

Alex cringed nervously. "Steven... I don't like the way that orb was looking at you. What if this is a Gem thing, and they're here for us?"

Steven scoffed. "how would aliens even know about...?"

With his back to the alien craft, Steven's first sign that something was amiss, was Alex's eyes widening in terror. With a determined scowl, Alex leapt into the air and kicked Steven's chest, with enough calculated force to send them both flying backwards, just before the hulking, reptilian alien came crashing down onto the street where they had just been standing.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Steven screamed.

The beast grabbed at him, but the Tektite hybrid scrambled backwards along the ground. The alien lunged again and again, while Steven desperately crawled away, without climbing to his feet, for fear of standing still for too long.

"Leave him alone!" Alex cried, sprinting to his partner's aid.

As soon as Alex was in range, the beast sent him flying with a swish of its long tail, across the street, and slamming into the side of a building.

"Hey!" Steven reacted, angrily.

Planting his feet on the floor, Steven shot himself clear of the beast's grasp, rolled backwards into a crouched position, like a track-runner, before shooting at the alien like a cannonball. Steven threw a blindingly-fast right hook at the creature's lower jaw... which it barely reacted to. The alien reptile's head barely moved, but Steven's wrist bent at an unnatural angle, with a sickening snap, from the force of the punch.

Steven screamed in pain, and, in his stunned state, he was powerless to evade the alien, as it wrapped a clawed hand around his entire upper body and lifted him off the ground. It held Steven close to its face and snarled something in its alien language.

"STEVEN!" Alex cried, racing towards the beast again.

"No! Run!" Steven insisted, to no avail.

The beast struck with its tail again, but this time, Alex was ready. He placed his hands on the tail as it came towards him and flipped forwards. The creature slashed with its free hand, and Alex leapt clear over it, flipping upside-down in the air, and taking Steven's healthy, outstretched hand as he went.

The scuffle was obscured by a bright flash of light, and when it faded, Stelex was furiously wrestling the alien's head, attempting to pin it down with one hand, while his right hand was smarting an ugly, purple bruise. As mighty as Stelex was, though, he couldn't subdue the extra-terrestrial leviathan with one hand.

The alien grabbed Stelex's neck with one hand, and the front of his shirt with the other, and threw him down the street with a frustrated roar. Stelex hit the street hard, and rolled to a stop. He cringed in pain, and his form glowed faintly. He tensed the fingers on his healthy hand, as though grabbing at the road.

"Together..." He whispered. "We can do this..."

Clutching his wounded hand against his chest, Stelex kicked off the ground again, and shot at the monstrous alien. The reptile prepared itself, to counter an attack that never came. Just before he came into striking distance, Stelex leapt over the alien's head, stumbled slightly as he hit the ground on the other side, and sprinted down the road, leading out of the city.

Stelex ran at top speed, through the city streets, as the buildings thinned, before racing across some suburban rooftops, and slowing down, in Empire City's surrounding countryside. Stelex doubled over and gasped for breath, with a flash of light, he separated, leaving the two tired, wounded children in his wake.

"Steven, we are crazy out of our depth, here!" Alex panted, catching his breath.

"Yeah..." Steven agreed. "No kidding... You think that thing came to earth, just for us? I mean, it might have just been on a rampage?"

Again, Steven was alerted to imminent danger, by Alex's startled expression. Steven flinched and span around, finding an answer to his question. Racing down the road, leading away from Empire City, was the creature, running on all fours, at the speed of a runaway train.

"Come on!" Alex cried.

Alex grabbed Steven's hand, and again, Stelex was sprinting away from the city. Stelex was only just faster than the pursuing creature, but he was beginning to tire, and the alien was showing no signs of feeling the same. Alex had never run at top speed for so long before. He usually only used his power in short bursts, and he was pushing the limits of his stamina.

Stelex's pulse was pounding and his chest burnt, but his fear of the pursuing beast forced him to keep running. Moments after he raced past the sign, welcoming visitors to the Keystone State, he heard something. Gradually increasing in volume, was the sound of a motorbike. This was unusual, since it wasn't the brief, fleeting sound of a vehicle he was running past, but a constant sound, leading to the impossible conclusion that it was a vehicle going as fast as he was.

Daring a peek over his shoulder, Stelex was terrified to see the alien monster in spitting distance, but more importantly, he saw Jamily, rapidly catching up, riding Veronica. After realising Steven was in danger, Emily and I had fused again and raced for the augmented motorcycle. Without Emily or Dorothy to operate the tracking programme, we'd called Olivia, who had used her powers of omniscience, to find the boys, and guide us to them, via earpiece.

"Jamily, you're catching up, can you see them yet?" Olivia asked, anxiously.

"Got 'em, thanks Olivia." Jamily replied. "Go look at the ship, and see if you can find anything out."

"Okay, I'll meet you at the rendezvous point?" She clarified.

"Don't astral project and drive." Jamily said, semi-seriously.

"It's cool, my brother's driving me to the warp pad."

After Olivia hung up, Jamily put her foot down. I was pushing my normal speed limit, too. I'd never ridden Veronica at her top speed for more than a few seconds at a time, and I was only now fully appreciating what she could do. With a jet of green flames blasting from the tail pipe, the bike shot at the reptile like a bullet. Jamily rode alongside it and, before the alien could attack, she unleashed a blast of green lightning from one hand. The alien snarled its disapproval, but didn't stop running. It lunged at the bike, and Jamily accelerated further, before manipulating the controls on the handlebars, causing the green flames to spread further and hotter, scorching the pursuing alien.

While it was stunned, Jamily caught up with Stelex. "Get on!" She ordered.

For want of a better option than boarding a vehicle with a relative stranger, Stelex took Jamily's hand and leapt onto the back of the seat, just before Jamily swerved off the main road, and onto a twisting side road. The alien had fallen behind, but with Veronica weighed down by the two sizeable fusions, and driving along a twisting road, it was beginning to catch up.

Just as it seemed all hope was lost, Veronica smashed through the gate to an abandoned picnic site, in front of a small, ancient pyramid. If I wasn't in mortal peril, I'd have felt nostalgic. I hadn't been to the Keystone Ruins in two years. This was where I first met Garnet, and learnt that there were other Gems and hybrids on earth.

Jamily drove towards the pyramid, and collapsed the bike onto her side, to keep them from concussing themselves on the low doorway, and slid across the threshold, onto the site's warp pad. Finally catching up, the beast pounced, but, a dazzling gleam of light later, its claws fell upon thin air.


	8. Dorothy's Origin Story

The glow of Warp Space faded, and we fell off the new Warp Pad, gracelessly, and a flash of light later, the two fusions were replaced by four hybrids, landing in a heap, beside Veronica.

"What... the hell was that!?" Steven cried.

"We don't know yet..." I sighed.

"You don't know!?" Alex cried. "You drove us to it!"

I realised they weren't talking about the alien. "Oh, the Warp Pad? Man, you kids have a lot of catching up to do..."

"Yeah, you're really gonna lose it when you realise we're on a floating stadium..." Emily added, as she picked herself up off the floor.

The boys looked around, and their mouths hung upon in shock, when they realised Emily was right. The new Warp Pad was at the back of a crumbling, stone structure, resembling a Roman colosseum, floating in the air, above the clouds. Steven and his friends had brought me here once to train, and I'd come back by myself often, since, just to chill out and enjoy the view, but I'd often run into Steven again, and allowed him to convince me to train with him. I hoped that the Cloud Arena, as well as being a figurative escape, would prove an effective escape from extra-terrestrial peril.

Emily and I climbed the stairs to the arena, with the astonished teenagers in tow. Despite his fatigue, Steven darted left and right, in bursts, taking it all in. In the arena, we found Mandy and Jamie, sitting on the steps. Around Mandy's neck, hung the Warp Whistle she'd used to activate the Warp Pad. Jamie was holding Dorothy's Gem to his chest, worriedly, and Bird Person's shards had been placed on the step between them.

Olivia was sitting cross-legged, a few steps behind them, with her eyes, and the Gem on her forehead glowing yellow. I assumed she was looking around the alien ship. I was also surprised to see Tyler, the skinny, blonde kid I'd rescued from the Gem Hunters, standing around, awkwardly, with his hands in his pockets.

"Tyler?" I reacted, in surprise.

"JJ!" He greeted, happily.

Tyler ran towards me, with his arms out, and I pulled him into a hug. Tyler and I had stayed in touch since I rescued him, and he had attended all of our hybrid social meetups, including Emily and Mandy's wedding. Tyler was enthusiastic about using the electrical powers the Citrine Gem on his naval offered him, to fight for Gemkind, and variants thereof, but I still felt kind of responsible for the kid, and didn't want to put him in danger. I certainly hadn't invited him to a gathering, to discuss the murderous, alien monster.

"What are you doing here, buddy?" I asked.

"Mandy texted me!" Tyler replied.

"She did...?" I looked at Mandy in surprise.

Mandy shrugged apologetically. "I thought it would be nice for him to meet Alex and Steven."

Steven, Alex and Tyler shared some awkward hellos.

"Anyway..." I said, pulling us back on track. "Olivia? Can you hear me?"

Olivia's eyes continued to glow, but she answered me, nonetheless. "Hi JJ." She greeted, lifting one hand, casually.

"What can you see?"

"Well... George Lucas would be proud..." Olivia replied. "There are no other crew aboard. Based on the number of bedrooms, I'm guessing it's only designed for one person. Other than that, the ship's not really telling me anything... it's all pretty alien. There's this big glowey green thing, which I think might be some kind of food synthesiser. There are a bunch of plant racks in the room. If it is, then the craft might be designed for long voyages?" Olivia's eyes dulled, she blinked as she adjusted to her surroundings, and looked at us. "Sorry I can't be more helpful, this is a bit out of my field of expertise."

"That's fine. Thanks anyway." I assured her. "Dorothy will tell us more, when she comes back."

And so, we waited. With sinister, impending peril somewhere on the planet, homing in on us, the mood was somewhat sour. We caught Steven and Alex up on how there was a second Steven Universe, who had just sent a message out to the universe, and that that was probably the cause of all the trouble we were in. Olivia checked back on the Keystone Ruins, but she was unable to tell where the alien had gone.

"Does she normally take this long to reform?" I asked Emily, while I looked at Dorothy, still in Jamie's hands, tapping my foot, impatiently.

"I've only seen her reform once..." Emily replied. "We were trying to capture a corrupted Gem for some new experiments, and it flattened her. Perry complained about how long she took, but no, it wasn't as long as this..." She furrowed her brow, worriedly.

"She sounded seriously scared." Mandy reminded us. "You don't think she's reluctant to come out?"

Jamie held Dorothy up to his face. "Come on, Dorothy! We need you!" He pleaded.

Suddenly, Dorothy's Gem began radiating green light. Jamie gasped in delight, and let go of Dorothy as she floated into the air. Her Gem projected the glowing, white form of an ordinary peridot, complete with form-fitting clothing and triangular hair, it quickly changed to the form I was used to, with the bob and lab coat, then it changed again, and the light faded, leaving Dorothy to gently land.

Dorothy's new form was very similar to her last. The only differences I could tell were a pair of steampunk-looking goggles on her forehead, some black, fingerless gloves and her hair was now tied into short pigtails.

As soon as Dorothy's feet touched the floor, she looked around, remorsefully. Before she said a word, she stepped over to Emily and Jamie and pulled them both into a tight hug. "I... I'm so sorry I didn't reform instantly..." She said, her voice breaking. "That creature... it's... I can't..."

Emily closed her eye and hugged Dorothy back. "Dorothy, I get that you're scared, but we're a team, okay? You need to tell us what's happening, so we can face this together."

Dorothy stepped back from the hug sniffled loudly. "You're right... is everyone here? Where's Howlite?"

Everyone looked over to the five shards, gloomily. Dorothy gasped and covered her mouth.

"And he still isn't back?" She observed, sadly. "Well... that's understandable... His form was only viable because he had organic matter, holding him together... without his form, I fear he might be just like any other shattered Gem... dead..."

Our anticipation for answers was replaced by sombre remorse. Bird Person had had an abrasive personality, but his moral compass was strong, and he'd risked his life, time and time again, to protect others. Honestly, I'd always secretly looked up to him, admiring his determination and relentlessness. It was hard to believe he was gone...

With a tear rolling down her cheek, Mandy went to pick up one of the shards. The second she touched it, though, she recoiled her hand, with a sharp, "Ow!"

"Mandy! Are you okay!?" Emily rushed over and inspected Mandy's hand.

Despite having touched the flat surface of the shard, Mandy's finger was bleeding, from a small, neat cut. As we looked at each other in confusion, Bird Person's shards began to lift into the air, wobbling uncertainly as they went, and each one glowing blue, alternately. As we watched in disbelief, Bird Person's form flickered in and out of sight, like a faulty light bulb, then, a fleshy, red strand leapt from each shard, to its neighbour, and they glowed bright blue, together. Through the light, we could just about see a skeleton forming itself from thin air, bone by bone, before coating itself in muscles and skin. As the light intensified, we heard an agonised, feminine scream.

The light and the scream faded, and a figure dropped to the floor. Logic dictated that it was Bird Person, but he certainly didn't look like a bird anymore, or a 'he'. He was wearing a skin-tight, black suit, with a dark blue, criss-crossing pattern on it, which ended at his shoulders and ankles, leaving his arms and feet exposed, his shards still adorned his chest and his eyes were still yellow. Other than that, he looked exactly like Mandy...

"Ugh... This form is a lot more organic than my last one..." His voice was bizarre. He sounded like Mandy too, but with a bitterness and anger that was never present in Mandy's voice. "What is this feeling in my chest? Is this what a heartbeat feels like!?" He began stretching his arms, experimentally.

While... the hybrid formerly referred to as Bird Person... flexed his (her?) shoulders and elbows, we stared in awe.

"Bird... Person...?" I tried, awkwardly.

Howlite inspected his elbows, where his wings had used to be. "Apparently not..."

"Amazing..." Dorothy breathed. "His shards must have reprogrammed themselves after he came out of the ground, to replicate organic matter, and incorporate it into his body, when he reforms."

"This is incredible..." Mandy breathed, getting uncomfortably close to her doppelganger. "It's like you guys are Human-Gem hybrids, and he's a Gem-Human hybrid!"

"We should probably stop calling him 'he'." I suggested.

"You should probably stop referring to me in the third person..." Not-Bird Person sourly added.

"Well what do we call you!?" I asked, in dismay.

"How about Howlite? You know, since that's my name? Also, you can keep using that earth pronoun 'he'. I like that one." Howlite requested.

"I am so uncomfortable about how there are two of my hot wife, now..." Emily said, quietly.

"Okay, _now_ I'm jealous and insecure..." Mandy said, jokingly, pulling Emily into a possessive hug.

"Does this kind of thing happen a lot with you guys?" Steven asked, seeming bemused.

"No, this is relatively new..." I replied.

Dorothy loudly cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention.

"Well, I for one, am relieved that Howlite is alive, and bemused by this turn of events, but perhaps we can get back on track?"

We all tried to put Howlite's surprising reincarnation out of our minds, as we took our seats on the arena's steps, as Dorothy prepared herself for her explanation.

"Okay... I suppose the story of that creature we encountered, goes all the way back to when I was created." She began. "You see, Emily's mother, Perry and I weren't made on Homeworld, we were grown in one of the first kindergartens on a planet called Lacerta. That creature in the city, that was a Lacertian... To colonise their planet, we... I mean we had to... we didn't know... You know it's not like humans are completely empathic of other organic species!"

"Dorothy, don't get defensive." Emily said, gently. "No one's going to blame you for what you did before you broke free from Homeworld and the Diamonds."

Dorothy sighed deeply. "The planet was inhabited... There were eighteen billion Lacertians living there. They faught us off as we bore into the planet, draining its resources to make more Gems... and they were mighty! Homeworld likes to pretend that all organic life are just inconsequential pests, but pretty soon it was clear that the colonising Gems were in danger. The Lacertians were destroying our drop ships one by one... their armies cut through the Kindergartening teams... Hundreds of Gems were shattered, before Yellow Diamond was prepared to admit that the Lacertians posed a serious threat..."

Dorothy paused to catch a breath, and calm herself.

"Where were you for all of that?" Emily asked, worriedly.

"We were in kindergartens... ravaging the planet's resources. Those were some of the first places to get attacked, and we just ran and hid... Then our supervisors would berate us for surrendering to 'lower life forms', and send us straight back to work as soon as the fighting moved on."

Another pause, which was eventually prompted along by Howlite. "So Yellow Diamond recognised them as a threat..."

"Too late..." Dorothy said, quietly. "The Lacertians launched a surface-to-space laser barrage, destroying the Gem observation platform in orbit. Yellow Diamond was onboard, and she almost got shattered, or failing that, lost in space forever. As soon as she was rescued, she ordered the surface of the planet be purged, at the expense of about a tenth of the planet's resources. She gave the Gem forces half an hour to withdraw..." Dorothy pursed her lips furiously, trembling with rage, at her former matriarch's brutality and negligence. "Thousands of Gems and billions of Lacertians, obliterated..."

"But this one survived..." I pointed out.

Dorothy shrugged. "Lacertians were an incredibly durable race. The gravity on their planet would have crushed a human in an instant, before we gutted it, and potentially, they're capable of living indefinitely, not unlike earth lobsters. Obviously this one has some cybernetic augmentations. I assume it's some kind of cyborg warrior the Lacertians developed, in the last days of the species. An amalgam of biology and technology capable of enduring the wrath of the Diamonds... Unprecedented, certainly, but theoretically possible..."

"So, this thing's entire species were wiped out by Gems. Understandable it'd be upset..." I sighed, remorsefully. "But why only go looking for Gems now? Surely it didn't need Steven's message to remind it that Gems exist?"

Olivia frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe it did... Dorothy, how capable were the Lacertians, when it came to interplanetary travel?"

"Barely." Dorothy replied. "They had only just invented hyperspace travel. In fact, their maiden voyage took them to a Gem controlled planet, that's how Gems found out about them."

"Well there you go." Olivia said, like it was obvious. "For all they knew, they had sparked a one-on-one interplanetary war, and lost. Sure, it would have sucked to lose their planet and their species, but at least they thought they'd died fighting the good fight. Imagine being this thing, lying in the ruins of your home, only to find out, not only has the race that killed yours spread out across the universe, but one of their leaders has just up and decided that everything's fine now, and Gems are good! This Lacertian must be outraged!"

"I can't even imagine..." I sighed. The pain, combined with the insult of Steven's well-meaning, but ill-informed message must have been hard, if not impossible to cope with. I could barely blame him for wanting Steven dead.

"So, we find this thing, and tell it it's got the wrong Steven, right?" Alex suggested, desperately.

Steven put a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly. "So, then it goes and kills the other Steven Universe? No..."

"Well it's that, or we use you as bait, because who knows how far that thing can track you from!?" Alex asked, in a panic.

Although his question was rhetorical, it turned out that Dorothy knew.

"Anywhere on Earth." She glumly replied. "A Lacertian's natural tracking ability can let it sniff out prey from up to 17.9 miles, but that ship is armed with pheromone-tracking drones, which would have spread around the planet before it breached the atmosphere, creating an unavoidable network. No doubt the creature is on its way here, right now..."


End file.
